Old_ZirconI'm starting to suspect that bronies are actually part of a secret government program to improve the self esteem and overall mental health of furries, juggalos, otherkin, cosplayers, Sonic fans and all the other Internet undesirables they've been making look pretty good in comparison.

BlueOh, I thought you were going to say "by teaching them important lessons about friendship."

A small part of me is genuinely offended that you completely discounted the possibility that this cartoon made for little girls could actually change people's lives for the better.

I think it's because I had to take special classes to learn basic social skills and I think that sort of thing should actually be explicitly taught to boys the way we already do with girls. I actually think that if anything (and I'm not using anti-brony hyperbole here) the show goes a bit above the heads of it's male audience. The show is friendship 201 - keeping friends and really, lots of bronies need friendship 101 - making friends. 90% of that would be instructions on how to not irritate the crap out of everybody you meet.

memedumpsterI don't think it's the question of whether or not its for boys or girls, but for children or adults. There is no end to adult targeted media that teaches friendship and other social interactions with an eye towards cautionary tales and detailed morally subtle situations, it's called "drama." If you can't stand how dumb drama is, read Emerson. If you hate Emerson, talk to other adults. If adults use a child mind targeted show to define their personality, you're making a lifetime child, which is an inhuman thing to do, and you seek actual adults to talk with.

The greatest thing about this show and its stunted fans doomed to live 100 years on earth as 8 year olds is that it throws a bucket of cold, harsh, self awareness in 1% of Adventure Time Fans, saving them from the same fate.

BlueDo you seriously think that these people were really mature and then they somehow lost their maturity because they saw a television show? And why would it stunt them? They consume other media. And just because it's targeted at children doesn't make it any more juvenile than the latest action flick or say, the newspaper.

One of the reasons this show is so popular with kids(and their parents) is because it doesn't talk down to kids the way that a lot of shows do. The show doesn't have any deaths and nobody ever has sex, but the stuff that is there is usually just as applicable to adults as it is to children. In fact, take out the cartoon ponies, take out the Doogie Howser style recaps and add some explosions and you've got a show that makes Burn Notice look like it's script was written in crayon.

But really, this kid is a fucking rock star compared to some of the bronies a decade older. Do you really think those guys are just going to Frank Abagnale their way into being well rounded, socially capable human beings from watching TV or reading Emerson? They need deliberate instruction, and making such instruction accessible only through mental health professionals is like hiding it in a filing cabinet on the moon.

Shoebox JoeMemedumpster, you mention adult shows often going on morality, but there are not many kids shows that treat their audience like adults with out the wake of edutainment stagnating the show into a boring pile of puke. That's literally the reason why Sesame Street took a nice dive until it started hammering the pop culture references/parodies.

Past that, this is also a light hearted show that takes a nice breath of fresh air away from the socially heavy bits of life while still remaining sharp. People need to watch a light hearted show once in a while, even if it's a children's show or a "cartoon".

If a 7 - 8 year old girl is able to assess that toys are being specifically marketed to gender roles and that you shouldn't play with a toy all because you were told to, then I don't think there really is much of a need for the question of "children or adult?"

I will give this to you. memedumpster, I've intereacted with a few of them and I have no problem with hating them. I've already witnessed a few idiots trying to hide behind "it's a joke, lighten up" with out any merit other than having it their way. I've witnessed Nietzche neanderthals strutting around as if they have found the penultimate wisdom.

I have no problem hating bronies. There was also a nice parting shot from the "Ponies Royale" video where the author noted it was his last due to the fandom being more self-serving and self-important rather than showing appreciation for a quality show.

Personally, I think you're just giving too much credit to "It's already been done" Memedumpster.

This. As long as bronies keep making their social difficulties into some kind of badge of honor, whatever potential educational value the show might have for them isn't going to be realized.

Old_ZirconAlso, if you use ANY show (or movie or book or band or painting or hobby or job or fixation or philosophy or religion or whatever) to define your personality, you're not doing yourself any favors to say the least.

Old_ZirconI'd throw race, gender and sexual orientation in there, too, but they're in a different category, since they're loaded with so much cultural baggage that you're kind of forced to use them to define your personality to a degree, even though there's no practical reason why they should and plenty of practical reasons why they shouldn't (especially in the case of race, since it's completely imaginary).

La LocoI accidentally read NLP and thought I was in for some teen wanna be Tony Robbins.

KabbageI've heard the argument made that the main character from MLP is autistic, literally knowing nothing about what friendship is and only learning how social interaction works through what she's read in a book.

At the end of every episode she unveils some revelatory moral that's kind of obvious to everyone else, but not its target audience really.

But I'm not comfortable enough with my own sexuality to actually ADMIT this. Instead, I'll just try to redefine "masculinity" so I "fit" again! Ready, fellow students and teacher who gave me this assignment? Here's my argument:

Whoops! Disregard that, I suck cocks! Got totally bored, forgot what I was trying to say, ANYWAY here's some funneh stuff people say on The Internet!

I have no idea what my reaction would be in that class. I really want to see the looks of confusion on his classmates, not being able to tell if he's being ironic or joking and then the dawning sadness that comes with the second half of this.

oswaldtheluckyrabbitI have nightmares about one of my students pulling something like this on me and me having to sit through the whole thing without cracking up

Old_ZirconJust make sure you get a video of it when it finally happens.

Shoebox JoeI am starting hate the puffed up man child trying to prove that watching a children's show doesn't make them creepy in the slightest.

Admit that you're stagnant and damaged, you lovably irritating doofus.

dairyqueenlatifahMy Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is actually a great cartoon. I'm not kidding. It's very entertaining and it's got some of the best writing I've ever seen in a show for little kids.

That being said, I don't see anything wrong with liking it. I just don't get this degree of obsession over it, or why you would do a class presentation on it. Or why your teacher would even allow this in an educational setting.

In fact, I'm instantly reminded of the time in my 9th grade English class where we all had to choose something instructional to give a demonstration speech about and this fat goth girl decided to do a "presentation" about Marilyn Manson, which consisted of her playing the music video for "The Dope Show" and talking about how he's the best human that ever lived as the video played.

BortSome adults are into Ayn Rand. Calibrate your scorn that way and Bronies aren't even a blip on your radar.